Hayley's Vacuminator 2017 Invention

• Holly Jones, Grade 3
• Short Story
• 2017

Hi, I’m Hayley. I’m an inventor. Last Saturday I got some awesome news. I got chosen to be on my favourite TV show “Inventor Girl”. They wanted me to show my new invention that I’d been working on all year. I was so looking forward to it. As soon as we got to the studio, the cameras started rolling and I gave a demonstration of my “Vacuminator 2017”. It had a super suction vacuum, obviously, plus a built-in camera and music system. It makes cleaning more fun listening to your favourite songs and the microscopic camera helps you see all the dirt and dust as you go along. Oh, by the way, remind me never to dance on set again!

Unfortunately, things started to go downhill rapidly. After filming finished, they ushered me into the green room backstage. But on the way, I heard crew members whispering about my invention and wanting to make changes to it. They said it wasn’t girly enough and they would paint it pink and add a makeup kit! Then I overheard someone say they would edit my face out of the shot and replace it with a model’s! The final straw for me was when they said they were going to delete the Vacuminator 2017 name, which has a patent pending on it, so they could sell it as their own product! I sat down in the green room in shock. I was so upset, but what could I do about it?

My first thought was to call some of the other girls I knew that had also been on the show. I found out pretty quickly that their inventions had also been ripped off! Unfortunately, they weren’t able to do anything about it because they didn’t have proof. But then I remembered that I had never turned off the built-in camera in the Vacuminator 2017 after the demonstration had finished. Maybe the footage would give me the evidence I needed. Bingo! I picked up my invention and said I had an urgent appointment. I went straight to the office of the head of “Inventor Girl”, Tracey Green. I had admired her for many years for her own creative ideas and inventions. I told her that the film crew were trying to change my invention and sell it as their own. Tracey was mortified. She said the whole show was designed to inspire and promote girls’ inventions after she had faced so many challenges protecting her own ideas during her career. She fired the film crew immediately and helped me and the other girls protect our inventions. The Vacuminator 2017 turned out to be a best seller-
time to get tidy up!